Stop Grocery Shopping

Here I am coming at you today with basically a command that could be translated as quit eating or go broke eating out all the time. When this is actually a post geared towards those of us who have kids and cannot seem to go to the grocery without said kid(s) who make the trip a vacation to hell.

…or those in the human race who are burned out of making the same things over and over again.

…or the ones of us who have a disgustingly fluctuating grocery bills that hovers around there goes our retirement to cancel to cable this month.

I am writing this post for the ones who hate to cook but love to watch Food Network. This isn’t for the Missy’s of the world who are chefs posing as lawyers in deep Southern cities. This isn’t for the PinterestPatty’s who find a new one every day and make it to perfection (I hate you.)

No, this post is for those of you – who like me – are sick of grocery stores, sick of estimating the total of your cart, tired of trying to find recipes because redundancy is so 1955. This post is for you – my people.

Christina passed along an offer to try Hello Fresh! for free a few weeks ago. I had been wanting to give one of these fresh food delivery companies an old college try for about eight months but it was never one my top priority list. When she shared the code with me I decided – it’s free let’s do this.

I hopped over to the app and signed up. Since I am currently in a “no spend” period I was hesitant about giving my billing information to the service but then after reviewing costs and comparing it to our current food budget I was happy to realize – this can actually save me money by keeping me on budget. (Keep reading.)

I ordered our box on a Wednesday and picked a delivery day of Monday, January 16th since I knew we would all be home in honor of the Martin Luther King Jr holiday. My free coupon was for three meals for two people on the classic plan.Yes, there are four people in my house but since two of them are under the age of taste maturity I do not count them as mouths I would feed with this service. They like classy palate pleaser meals like corn dogs, hot dogs, chicken tenders, peanut butter and jelly, boiled eggs, soup. Yes, they are very hard to please.

A post shared by Amanda (@mrsamandabullard) on Jan 16, 2017 at 7:07am PST

On Monday morning the UPS guy showed up at 9 with a big box. A box that made my son jump with joy reminiscent of a Jack Russell Terrier who had got into a bottle of Mountain Dew.

Admitting – I was pretty excited too. Also, you don’t need to be home when the box is delivered. There are massive cool packs in the box along with an insulated cover over the interior of the packaging. Yes, they are prepared for weird NC weather patterns with that packaging!

We took our box into the kitchen and cut it open to find three pretty delicious recipes and lots of delicious produce and nice cuts of meat. (If you do not prefer meat there is a vegetarian option.)

If you know me then you know I do love to cook so the idea of making new meals was super exciting to me. The empty box was super exciting to my kid.

Night one I decided we would do the stir-fry. Here’s the deal: I don’t regularly cook Thai anything. I may do a Chinese inspired dish but Thai – I skip. Was I nervous? A little. Did it make my house stink? Yes. So much so that my husband said, “IF it tastes like it smells then I don’t want any.”

This meal took me about forty minutes to pull together. I’ll blame it on me being new to this program. When it was time to plate it I was totally surprised that this meal for two would easily feed four. I had the kids join us and guess what?

A post shared by Amanda (@mrsamandabullard) on Jan 16, 2017 at 4:37pm PST

So in that picture I had already devoured HALF the plate before I was like – OH CRAP I SHOULD TAKE A PICTURE. #reallife

I even had left overs which my husband took to work the next day. He said that it was even more delicious the second day. My thinking? The flavors had ample time to meld.

Two thumbs up, Hello Fresh!

Night two was chicken dish night. This was just simply smashing. The sweet potatoes were delicious, the chicken was out of this world, and the broccoli was perfect. This was a more common meal for my kitchen so I think with my comfortable level being raised I was able to whip this up in thirty minutes.

A post shared by Amanda (@mrsamandabullard) on Jan 17, 2017 at 3:18pm PST

Again there was enough for more than two people – our son joined us at the table and enjoyed the meal too.

And again, two thumbs up!

We saved the steak meal for later in the week. I’m not a fan of steak on the stove top, I so prefer the grill! However, I wanted to follow the instructions and do this just as it advised. I made the slaw/salad first – purple cabbage and onions with mustard seed, white wine vinegar, and a dab of sugar – fabulous! The gold potatoes were roasted with rosemary and oil – a favorite recipe here for sides Hello Fresh or no Hello Fresh! Then I cooked the steak. I prefer rare steak so this was right up my alley.

A post shared by Amanda (@mrsamandabullard) on Jan 19, 2017 at 5:02pm PST

And again – deliciousness! We did not share this meal with the kiddos!

So here is my final take on Hello Fresh –

Ordering – Easy peasy! Considering you pick when you want it – I’m sold! We have decided to set up our ordering for every other week. If I didn’t have a pretty stocked freezer we would do it weekly but since I have stuff that needs to be used (already on hand) I want to use it!

Options for ordering are weekly, biweekly, and once a month. If you need to change it you can very easily! Five days before your order arrives click in and “pause” the order if you need it to not arrive for that week. This is perfect, guys! Say an unexpected event comes up and you can’t afford it for the week or you have enough in your freezer to rock this week without any money expenditures – just PAUSE the Hello Fresh! You can remove the pause at any time!

Delicious – I was almost in total shock at how fresh and delicious it truly is. The produce and meat superseded my expectations. I also am a huge fan of how healthy the meals are. Each recipe shows you the calculations for calories, fat, sugar, carbs, etc. My husband and I agreed we would totally miss these meals on off weeks this winter!

Easy – The recipes are leveled easy to more advanced. This makes it even more fun! My first box was all easy peasy. SO I guess I better wait before I start filming my cooking show – ha!

Frugal – I live on a budget and this program makes adhering to my food budget even easier. I know exactly how much I’ll be spending on meals for the week and it won’t go over the amount I have allotted. That is HUGE for anyone on a budget who has to buy food. Don’t get me wrong – I still have to run by the store for the staples (bread, milk, fruit, and any extra for lunches or dessert) but it is a much quicker trip and less expensive.

If you are interested in trying Hello Fresh then I want to let you use my code to get $40 off your order – AMANDABUL – will get you your first shipment at bottom dollar prices. You can use it one time and see if Hello Fresh is for you! Just click over to Hello Fresh and pick your plan, enter the code AMANDABUL and your billing information (in case you decide to keep it going) and pick your date to receive your food!

Also, you need to know this isn’t an expensive service. The plan we are on is roughly $60 a week! And the best part? It isn’t fluctuating in price like my trips to the regular supermarket.

Give it a try and let me know how you like!

$40 off with code: AMANDABUL

Happy Eating!

xo-

Amanda

This is not a paid post I am posting this on my own without any involvement from Hello Fresh. When I find something I like I want to share it with you!

Linked up over at Johannah’s!

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Published by Amanda B

Jam making, work out crazed, health obsessed, coffee addict. Who also enjoys a good glass of wine and time spent in the woods. Married to a guy who lacks the ability to focus but can make anything I ask of him. Mother of two totally opposite kids the quiet book/computer nerd and the spunky ninja warrior. This is the world we live in and I'm bringing it to you every little hiccup, belly laugh, ugly cry, and hold my beer moment!
View all posts by Amanda B